Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
No time for rest as fired-up Caps lie in wait
VOORHEES, N.J. » Not much has gone wrong for the Flyers over much of the past two months, but they don’t see that as any reason to relax as time continues to tick down on the regular season.
For one thing, the NHL schedule doesn’t allow for much relaxation, as the streaking Flyers visit the Metropolitan Division leading Washington Capitals Wednesday, then get back home quickly to host another Eastern Conference playoff contender in Carolina on Thursday.
No wonder so many of these guys often adhere to that onegame-at-a-time mantra.
“You approach one game at a time and sometimes you forget where a pivotal game is or a pivotal spot,” goalie Brian Elliott, who is slated to start in D.C., said Tuesday when asked to recount the club’s season turnaround. “But we’re not looking back, we’re not looking in the rear-view mirror to try to figure out where it was. It’s basically just trying to play every game a little better than the last. I think if we keep that up, you cruise into the playoffs, hopefully clinching, and hopefully in a good spot, and you’re playing your best hockey at the end of the year. I think that’s what everybody wants to be doing.
“We’ve kept our focus pretty narrow, on the task at hand and the game at hand, and that’s been the strength of our team.”
As good as the Flyers have been, crafting a 16-5-1 run since Jan. 7, they are far from securing any postseason guarantee.
At 38-20-7 (83 points), they will enter this game just three shy of Washington (86 points), but only one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who finally ended a six-game losing streak Tuesday night against Ottawa.
Also looming close are current wild card holders, the Islanders and Blue Jackets, both with 78 points. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are three behind them, meaning they’ll be desperate for points when they hit town Thursday.
Standings points and opponents aside, however, the Flyers are telling themselves to avoid distractions and concentrate on what they got them into this position in the first place.
“Ultimately over an 82-game season, things sort of sort themselves out to where you should be in the standings, and what kind of team you are,” James van Riemsdyk said. “So lately we’re getting some wins and getting some results. But looking over the course of the season I can’t think of too many times where I felt like we’ve been in kind of a funk, where we hadn’t been playing well for too long of a time. So I think we’ve had a good approach and given ourselves a chance most nights.
“There’s still a lot of hockey to be played,” coach Alain Vigneault added. “We’re focusing on one game at a time, and playing the right way. That’s what we’ve got to do tomorrow (against a) tough opponent, and it should be a great hockey game.”
Great game, maybe. The biggest game of the season so far?
“Well, it’s a big game for both teams,” Vigneault hedged. “Both are fighting to get into the playoffs. Nobody’s got a check mark right now (next to their standings name), so there’s two points there and we’re going to do everything we can to grab them.” NOTES » Despite Carter Hart being on his game lately, Vigneault said he wanted Elliott in net Wednesday night primarily because he played so well there the last visit to Washington, when the Flyers took the Caps apart 7-2 on Feb. 8 . ... Elliott, when asked about the possibility of players taking precautions if the Coronavirus continues to spread: “I don’t know, I’m not in a medical position to talk on it. I just know we’re not drinking Corona beers right now, either. I feel bad for the brand . ... You have to be careful, I guess. It’s weird. It’s everywhere. People are asking for autographs and I think guys are going to start saying no now just because it’s out there and you have to be careful.”